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Sunday, March 23, 2014

Join J.A. Rock and I on our blog tour, and you could win stuff: a copy of our last release Mark Cooper versus America, and a $20 gift voucher from Riptide. Psst: you should use that gift voucher to buy When All the World Sleeps. I've heard good things...

So join J.A. and I at the following places, and leave a comment for your chance to win.

Please note that all dates are American. Don't get excited like me and think it's sooner than it is! You can buy When All the World Sleepshere from Riptide.Meanwhile, When All the World Sleeps is the book of the month over at On Top Downunder Reviews. Check it out!

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

I don’t subscribe to that whole “my books are my babies”
mantra that you see every now and then. I don’t have babies. Lucky, because I’d
be in jail if I treated my babies how I treat my books. It’s my understanding
that babies have to be fed and washed and clothed and, most importantly, that
you can’t just abandon them if they begin to annoy you. So, no. Books and
babies are very different things.

I do understand where this sentiment comes from, though. I really do. We work
hard on our books. We create them. We are emotionally attached to them.

But they’re still not
babies.

Because too often when an author pulls out the “But my book is like my baby!” thing, it's the first stop on the crazy train that is the Meltdown Express. Before you know it you're at "How dare you criticise me just because you're too stupid to understand my genius" Station.

As though likening a book to a baby is an excuse to have an
overwrought reaction to an unfavourable review.

As though someone saying they don’t like your book is like
someone harming your child.

Rubbish.

Why not talk to someone who’s had a child, and ask them if
that child in any way compares to a book? Better yet, why not talk to someone
who’s lost a child and find out what they think of that cutesy little book
analogy?

Books are a lot of things. They can inspire you, and educate
you, and they can take you to places you never thought you’d get to go. Books
are wonderful, and they are more than the sum of their parts. They can be magical.

And yet… they’re
still not babies.

Well, maybe this kind of baby:

I hatch them, I wish them well, and then I kick them the
hell out of my nest.

Whatever happens to them out there, they’re tough enough
to handle it, and so am I.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

This month I am the featured author over at Riptide! Hooray for me!If you follow the link you can find out all about my newest releases and what's coming up from me at Riptide. You can also read an interview and find out why my study is full of garden implements, dog food, and outdoor furniture. I'm not lazy at all -- it's a safety issue. *whistles*Being the March featured author isn't just good news for me -- it's good news for you as well.You can buy He Is Worthy at half price -- only $1.99 The rest of Riptide's Warriors of Rome series is half price as well!

You can also preorder Bliss, co-written with Heidi Belleau, for the special price of $5.99!

They're always happy.

Rory James has worked hard all his life to become a citizen of the idyllic city-state of Beulah. Like every other kid born in the neighboring country of Tophet, he’s heard the stories: No crime or pollution. A house and food for everyone. It’s perfect, and Rory is finally getting a piece of it.

So is Tate Patterson. He’s from Tophet, too, but he’s not a legal immigrant; he snuck in as a thief. A city without crime seems like an easy score, until he crashes into Rory during a getaway and is arrested for assaulting a citizen. Instead of jail, Tate is enrolled in Beulah’s Rehabilitation through Restitution program. By living with and serving his victim for seven years, Tate will learn the human face of his crimes.

If it seems too good to be true, that’s because it is. Tate is fitted with a behavior-modifying chip that leaves him unable to disobey orders—any orders, no matter how dehumanizing. Worse, the chip prevents him from telling Rory, the one man in all of Beulah who might care about him, the truth: in a country without prisons, Tate is locked inside his own mind.

And to round off the month of March, When All the World Sleeps is out on the 24th. Seriously, I can't wait to share this one with everyone. I love it so much, and I hope you do too!